Anyone see Wales and former Cardiff City youngster Adam Matthews starring for Celtic against Barcelona on Wednesday night?

Anyone see Wales and former Cardiff City youngster Adam Matthews starring for Celtic against Barcelona on Wednesday night?

For those who didn’t, let me enlighten you.

Barcelona lost the Champions League clash 2-1, but had 84 per cent of the possession and put the Celtic back four under siege.

Picked at left-back, when he is more naturally suited to the right hand side, Matthews first found himself locked in combat with Barca’s tricky and nippy Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez. He didn’t give him a kick.

Next, Spanish ace Pedro switched flanks to try to get some joy out of Matthews. He, too, didn’t get a kick.

While this was going on, Brazilian great Dani Alves, the world’s finest overlapping full-back, was doubling up on young Matthews by spending almost the entire 90 minutes as a right-winger. He also got little joy from the young Welshman.

Finally, Lionel Messi switched to Barcelona’s right-hand side. It would be wrong to say he didn’t get a look-in because at one point the world’s best footballer got past Matthews... but that was the only occasion.

Even Messi, notwithstanding his injury-time goal, was by and large blotted out by Matthews’ defensive excellence.

Why do I make these points? Because, to this day, Dave Jones’ treatment of this precocious talent while he was with the Bluebirds rankles with me.

I said at the time it was utterly crazy for Jones to pick Paul Quinn ahead of Matthews in the team, when the Bluebirds were pushing for promotion in the 2010-11 season.

Yet good old Quinn it was who consistently got the nod, Matthews unceremoniously axed by Jones after he was blamed by the former Bluebirds manager for a 2-0 loss at Ipswich.

What should have happened, in my view, was Jones putting his arm around such a fine young talent, telling him to learn from any errors and to come back better and stronger in the next game and beyond.

Instead, Matthews found himself ostracised, picked for just a mere handful of matches afterwards, his Cardiff City career pretty much over.

While the misfiring Bluebirds desperately needed Matthews’ defensive prowess, athleticism, speed and footballing ability on the overlap in the closing months of the season, Jones decided Quinn was a better bet. Absolutely crazy, in my eyes.

In banishing Matthews to the sidelines, the Bluebirds also created a situation where he was in effect permitted to go for nothing.

Again, absolutely crazy, this time from a business point of view. Particularly when you consider Matthews was being linked in the media with some of the biggest clubs in the land, including Manchester United and Arsenal, and being talked of in some quarters as a £5m footballer.

He’s certainly worth that sum today, if not more, judging by the manner in which he has played at the highest level for club and country this season.

Next page: Barcelona

Barcelona, the other night, was similar for Matthews to Wales versus Belgium at his old Cardiff City Stadium stamping ground a few weeks earlier.

That night Belgium too had more than 80 per cent of the possession and led a non-stop barrage on the Welsh defence.

Unlike Barca, the Belgians duly won the game 2-0... but despite the glut of ball in their favour, had to make do with two set-piece goals.

Why? Because the Welsh defence of Matthews, Darcy Blake, Ashley Williams and Chris Gunter, were absolutely magnificent that evening in the Welsh capital.

Of the quartet, Matthews was handed the toughest task of the lot, put head-to-head against Belgium’s star man Eden Hazard. The £32m Chelsea superstar was pretty much marked out of the game, just as Sanchez, Pedro and Alves were the other night at Celtic Park.

When he was Cardiff manager, Jones did an awful lot of things right. But he also made some very questionable decisions.

Some of them, like not picking the gifted Aaron Ramsey from the start in the FA Cup Final, and at times overlooking Darcy Blake, I could understand, even if I didn’t agree with those choices.

Some managers just prefer experience to the precocious, but understandably inconsistent talent of youth.

But sorry, plumping for Quinn ahead of Matthews was a Jones decision I could never begin to comprehend. Subsequent events have just underlined why my concerns at the time were right.

Cardiff failed to go up, when Matthews just, might just, have given them an extra dimension defensively and offensively.

He has since gone on to prove how good he is by shining for Celtic and Wales, his club knowing they could net a windfall by selling him to a Premier League club.

And Quinn, the full-back Jones deemed was better, has joined Doncaster Rovers on a free.

Cardiff’s loss, financially as well as playing personnel wise, has very much been Celtic’s gain.

Still only 20 years of age, Matthews played 42 games for the Scottish champions last season and this campaign has been involved in a variety of Champions League victories.

He has also become a key figure for Wales and, with Neil Taylor and Chris Gunter, will offer real options in the full-back positions for years to come.

Matthews can play either side of the defence, as he proved so effectively against Barcelona.

One last thought.

A lot has been made in the past 48 hours about Cardiff’s leaky defence, with 18 goals conceded in eight away Championship games... the second worst record in the division.

Imagine a back four with home-grown duo Matthews and Blake as the two full-backs, and any two from Ben Turner, Matthew Connolly and Mark Hudson as the centre-backs.

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